Chrysanthe Patselas

“[The person I look up to the most is] my sister. She’s a great role model for me because she always tries her hardest, not just in school, but in life and in what she’s passionate about. I think that it’s really important to find the thing that you really love and work hard at it. For her, it’s piano and music, and she has helped realize that the world isn’t just about me, it’s about c
ommunity and she tries to impact her community and reach out to others. She has made me realize that I should probably [be doing] the same thing. She went to Washtenaw Tech Middle College and created an orchestra when there wasn’t one and they played in hospitals and other places. She carries the music around with her wherever she goes and takes what she’s really passionate about and brings it to other communities and makes people happy and impacts them. She tries to be there for me most of the time, she helps me with homework, friends and is just there when I need to talk about anything. Now she’s in college and I’ve had to learn to deal without her and it’s only now that I really realize how much of an impact she’s made on me. She used to drive me around everywhere, but now she can’t drive me places so I have to get my parents to drive me, and we used to talk every night after homework too, mostly about school, but also friends, things we did [that day], things we wished we would’ve done and things we remember doing, so those have been some changes. Living without her has been pretty hard to do because I was so used to her guiding me through everything and being the first to try new things, but now, I am the older sister to my younger sister and I get to fill her role.”